Preliminary testing has revealed a slew of chemicals including “significant biological hazards” in the Awatoto region of Napier, an industrial area hit extremely hard by flooding last month, a statement from Napier City Council last Tuesday said.
About 20 businesses are based in the affected area including a Ravensdown superphosphate factory, wool scourers, an animal rendering facility, and the Napier wastewater plant, which was damaged in the flood resulting in a spill. There are also some residential homes in the vicinity.
The area had been cordoned off and manned by guards. Napier City Council is working with the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee chaired by Fire and Emergency New Zealand, which advised in a report for the cordon to be put in place to ensure the public could not gain access.
BayBuzz requested the report from FENZ but has been referred to the National Emergency Management Agency.
A disclaimer is reportedly required asking those entering to acknowledge the presence of multiple health and safety hazards, listing potential health threats such as gastroenteritis, coughing and blisters, and which states that there is the potential for “significant risk to health and property” in the event that isolated pockets come into contact.
Preliminary testing by Napier City Council has revealed traces of acids, caustic agents, significant biological hazards, high ammonia pockets, hydrocarbons, sulfuric dioxide, insecticides, pesticides and other hazards. The councils said further test results were expected in the next week or so.
Napier City Mayor Kirsten Wise said that comprehensive testing and planning was underway, with health and safety a priority.
Residents in the area had been assessed and the risk from chemical contamination of the land was considered low for those living in or assisting the clean-up in the residential areas. Mask and glove wearing, as well as handwashing were advised.
Napier City Council Acting Chief Executive Richard Munneke said a coordinated approach was being taken. “The area is being investigated by scientific specialists so sites can be cleared and appropriately remediated. We expect to be able to re-evaluate the cordon by 16 March at the earliest.”
BayBuzz asked the council for details of what it was testing for, which labs it was using and the budget it had for the tests, as meaningful remediation can only occur if it is known what contaminants are present and what the cost of addressing them will be. We also asked if drinking water testing had been stepped up as an immediate precaution.
A statement provided by the council said it was testing water and silt for “a full suite of chemicals” but did not specify which ones. A number of labs across the country were being used and there were no barriers to any of the required tests being done.
Water quality testing of municipal supplies had been increased to ensure drinking water remained safe and there was no set budget for testing, as the state of emergency meant life and property came first and foremost.
“The budget will be reconciled over the coming months, during the recovery,” the response said.
WoolWorks chief executive Nigel Hales said that its facility had come through better than many others, but it would be months not weeks, before the site was operational again.
“We got a two metre wall of water pin us, so we are affected at Awatoto, but our other sites are unaffected and our offsite storage at Napier and Clive are unaffected,” he said.
When the clean-up was allowed to start, PPE would have to be worn he said. The Napier City Council had done a very good job at reacting to the potential for contamination, he said.
“But we are taking no risks whatsoever, and we are fully suited up. We’ve got all the appropriate gear. Hazmat suit, gloves, goggles, gloves etc.”
Hales said a new pumping station at Awatoto would be a good start for the local industries to protect the area from future floods and funding for such a facility may have to be industry funded, he said.
Ravensdown Napier works manager, Andrew Torrens said its admin and lab buildings were significantly damaged by flood water, but overall damage was not as extensive as it has been for some other operators in the area.
“Our acid and fertiliser manufacturing lines remained above water throughout. Initial testing of floodwater from site has shown it contained fertiliser nutrients – which follows from the fact that floodwater reached some of the fertiliser product stored on site. We have taken further samples and await results.
“It’s worth clarifying that there has not been a loss of sulphuric acid from our site as the flood waters did not reach our acid storage tanks,” he said.
Soil testing service ARL had been moved into a temporary offsite location a week ago and had been testing samples since, but its focus to date had been sampling floodwater. Once council clearance has been given to start moving silt and debris from the Ravensdown site, it would then test silt samples so that contaminated material can be appropriately disposed.
An assumption has been made as part of its risk assessment that silt and debris were likely to carry some form of contamination, which was why full PPE must be worn at the Ravensdown site, he said.
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Surely it is time to review the relocation of industrial businesses from the Marine Parade area?
Did they stop pumping that Awatoto flood water out into the river when they realised how toxic it is?
There was a total failure of 70 metres of stop bank where Ravensdown has Resource Consent to discharge through the stop bank from its Settlement pond into the Ravendown Drain. On the Resource Consent this failure point is labelled Ravensdown Discharge Point (Plan D). This settlement pond has been totally destroyed by Cyclone Gabrielle along with the contaminated sludge it contained. In addition to this, Ravensdown has Consent to discharge treated stormwater and process water and associated contaminants from the sulphuric acid and fertiliser manufacturing plant to a large block of land shown to the left in the photo. The contaminants are normally absorbed by crops and soils and/or may enter shallow groundwater. Given the collapse of the stop bank resulted in a 2 metre plus wall of water which destroyed the settlement pond and the sludge it contained and the wall of water then swept through Ravensdown Land Discharge Area (Plan B) on the Resource Consent there will undoubtedly be significant contamination which has impacted lifestyle blocks, the closest being at 6.4 Ha block at 88 McLeod Rd. Big business needs to help with the clean up.